It's been a Powerhouse week at Davis!
Power generation is a critical service for an Antarctic station, and for the last two weeks at Davis Station the Main Powerhouse (MPH) has been undergoing its annual service.
The MPH contains four generators and the electrical infrastructure to power the full station. Under normal conditions, two of these generators are enough to power the entire station, and the electrical smarts of the MPH monitor the load and 'walk on' or 'walk off' extra generators as needed. The generators run on Special Antacrtic Blend (SAB) fuel which is formulated to avoid it freezing in our icy conditions. As well at the power generation the MPH also contributes to the heating of the station - the water that is used to cool the generators is then piped around the station for central heating, with the temperature boosted where required by boilers located in each building.
Each of the four generators are meticulously maintained thorughout the year, receiveing daily observation and regular servicing at 250, 500 and 1,000 hours, and once per year the load of the station is switched over to the Emergency Powerhouse (EPH) and the MPH is taken offline for a full top to bottom, including replacement of one of the generators. Over the years the station has outgrown the capacity of the emergency powerhouse so additional generators are brought in to help it out. There is a new Emergency Powerhouse under construction that will be brought online in coming seasons. Keeping the EPH and generators fuelled is an ongoing task for the almost three weeks they are running the show and it's a morning and night process, with dieso Jason and his refuelling vehicle a fixture of the station you could set your clock by, morning and night.
During the outage was the perfect time for the electricians to get inside the MPH and complete the annual inspection of the fire safety systems that protect this critical infrastructure during the outage.
On Tuesday this week the annual service was completed and the load switched back to the Main Powerhouse. The comforting hum of our generators can now be heard from the right direction.
